Bending down the barb on a hook

[Bass Turd]

Does anyone bend down the barb on their fishing hooks when Bass fishing? Especially worm fishing. Why or why not?

[georgeyew]

3 pros that I can think of are:

- easy release of fish

- easy to remove if you hook yourself

- easier to set the hook

1 main con is:

- could lose the fish if you have too much line slack

[Nitrofreak]

Only when I fish private lakes that require the use of barbless hooks, some of these guys go to great lengths to keep up a fishing pond, some are more than big enough to accomadate several bass boats so I keep a small Plano box stocked with baits that have barbless hooks just for these guys.

[Fish the Mitt]

2 hours ago, Nitrofreak said:

Only when I fish private lakes that require the use of barbless hooks, some of these guys go to great lengths to keep up a fishing pond, some are more than big enough to accomadate several bass boats so I keep a small Plano box stocked with baits that have barbless hooks just for these guys.

Exactly. There are some private ponds I fish where the owner has purposely done the work to grow hogs! Out of respect for the mini fishery he's got going on, and per his request, I have some lures with bent barbs. Now, I've never really had an issue when the barbs are not bent but again, it's his request and I abide by it in order to fish there. Other than that, if I'm fishing elsewhere (anywhere else), I don't ever bend them. My thought is if you need to bend the barb in order to fix something that's happening, the barb isn't the problem, and you should be looking elsewhere for a resolve.

[blckshirt98]

I've only done this when it was required by regulations to pinch down barbs.  To be honest I didn't see a lower rate of landed fish because of the pinched barbs either but it was a small sample size.

[Turtle135]

I go barbless when I am fishing big 10" worms in the summer. In my experience bass will just straight swallow a worm in a blink of an eye. I do not have that same problem with a jig.

With a barbless hook and the "behind the gill" hook removal procedure (if you are familiar with that technique) even a deeply hooked bass can be quickly unhooked and released unharmed. I know it works as I landed a five pounder two months later after I had gullet hooked him on a worm.

[Wayne P.]

I remove the barb with the presentation like my avatar. Better hook penetration and there is no weight to create leverage to throw the hook, so no barb is not an issue. I catch thousands of bass that way.

[OntarioFishingGuy]

Always. I don't find that I lose any more fish, plus it's better for the fish and yourself. Some hooks have wicked barbs. 

[I.rar]

I bend down all barbs, treble and all. I've lost a few fish from them coming loose but I've also had some with a hook in their eye and the no-barb made quick release very easy. 

[bigturtle]

i also remove all barbs. unnecessary for me.

[reb67]

I pinch down the barbs when (bass fishing) prefishing or fishing for fun, two reasons to better preserve the fish and better my skills on landing the fish.  Now if I am fish for food ( stripper, crappie, blue gill, catfish) barb on!

[Bluebasser86]

Every time I hook myself, I wish I would have. I've started to do it slowly. I feel if I fight a fish correctly it won't matter if I have a barb or not.

[papajoe222]

I don't do it on single hook presentations, but I will sometimes on trebles. I started doing that on muskie baits to make both my and their release easier and less painless. Well, less painless for me anyway.  If the fish are aggressively hitting my presentation and/or getting hooked deep, I'll grab my needle nose and pinch them down. 

[MIbassyaker]

I flatten my barbs most of the time. However many fish I lose with barbless hooks, I gain at least that many with easier hooksets and faster unhooking.  Barbs originally existed for holding live bait, not for holding fish.

[jignfule]

Barbless on all soft plastics

[dallasdb]

I usually pinch down only when the hook isn't coming out real easy. I've never had a bass gut hook itself, only trout and panfish.

[Raul]

Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away this dude I know began bending the barbs in his hooks, one day he lost a big momma ( and in his neck of the woods a big momma is big ) because it unhooked and he said: "to the hell with it" no more barb bending, if for whatever reason he can´t unhook the fish he bends the barb and trashes the hook, or in case of being necessary, cuts the hook, he ain´t gonna get "hook poor".

[Crestliner2008]

Every hook in my tackle bags have the barbs crimped down. For all the reasons already mentioned above. It's extremely rare that I loose a fish. The only hooks that still have these barbs are the #2 Gammy Drop Shot hooks. Reason being is that smallies love to jump and a single hook with no barb and a flopping free sinker, causes way too many lost fish. Those fish are usually hooked in the top lip anyway, so it's no big deal. And the odds of you getting one in your hard are remote with the drop shot presentation.

I've crimped the barbs on all my trebles as well, on all my hardbaits. Again, very rare that I loose a fish. And so what if I do. Landing every fish I hook up with is much less of a concern to me, the older I get these days, than it use to be. Comes with confidence I guess.

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

I fish with kids a lot. I have them all trained to check their hooks when they attach a lure or hook and make sure it's crimped down. Even got them all a set of pliers and taught them how to do it. Every hook or lure that is tied on is crimped. I've only broken 2 hooks by crimping too hard and we catch lots of fish.

[FreddoB]

When I tie flies for trout I typically do crush the barb but not yet for bass. The best reason to crush the barb is in case you get a hook in "you" and not a fish. I've seen this happen and it'll come right out. The 2017 New Jersey Freshwater Fishing Digest has an article chuck full of stats about fish mortality titled: " The Truth About Hooks Lures". I read it on a flight last February. The bottom line is that you can unhook the fish easier without barbs but most fish don't live due to mis-handling or gut hooking, gill cutting, etc. Common sense really... Yesterday I reeled in a 9" LM with 6' of mono hangin out of the poor thing. It ate a rubber ribbon tail worm that was t-rigged wrong. The hook looked like a typical Aberdeen and never came out of the bait to hook the fish! I'm not sure if the line cut on a rock or how that all played out. My barbed hook helped be clear the little bass of the mess he was dragging around to grow another day. I'm not advocating barbed hooks, just a story.

 

Here's a link to the publication if you'd like to read the article (starts on p. 12):

http://www.eregulations.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/17NJFW-LR.pdf

 

[Doelman]

I fish in Quetico Provincial Park every year and you have to pinch your barbs in there, never noticed any difference in landing fish.

 

The one negative I have noticed though is that the barb helps keep oring rigged senkos on the hook, without the barb they often slide right off.

[onetime]

Nope, I never do.

[BuzzHudson19c]

Never will I destroy the barbs on my hooks. I've caught big fish that were barely hooked and if the barb was pinched down, they would have been gone.

[413toadhunter]

To say that bending the barb down reduces fish catch is crazy! Don't blame your equipment for your mistakes, of course I have lost fish with a bad hook set but since I set the hook I'm guessing I did something wrong and try to figure out what not to do. People are too quick to push blame on anything but themselves. Also it is beneficial to the fish which should be enough for everyone to bend down those barbs! We are the keepers of our fishing areas and need to cherish them for mismanagement can be devastating.  

[scaleface]

I would think that a barbless hook would work well until the bass jumps . Correct me if I'm wrong .